Chapter 84
◎Soap◎
Tangtang carefully took the whole piece of white soap from the mold. She took a cutting board and a kitchen knife from the kitchen, planning to cut this large piece of soap into small, medium-sized pieces.
“Success?” Su Juesheng happened to pass by, and his eyes lit up when he saw the soap.
Tangtang was also a little excited. “It looks like it’s a success, but this is my first time making it. I don’t know how it will feel to use and how well it will remove stains.”
Tangtang was studying chemistry and knew that the principle of soap making was mainly through the saponification reaction, where fats and oils react with an alkali to produce soap. It was not complicated to make, but it was her first time, so she didn’t know if it would be successful.
“It even smells fragrant.” Su Juesheng leaned closer and sniffed hard. “It smells like plum blossoms.”
The large piece of soap was cut into twenty medium-sized pieces. Tangtang kept ten pieces for her own family to use, and the remaining ten were given to some of the closer aunts in the village.
At seven in the morning, Tangtang carried a wooden basin to the river to wash clothes.
As soon as she passed, her second aunt, Yu Yahong, warmly gave her a stone slab next to her. “Tangtang, are you washing clothes? This spot is good. Come over quickly.”
Just as Tangtang had wet her clothes, Wu Fangmei couldn’t wait to chat with her. “Tangtang, that soap you gave us is so good. The clothes get wet, and with just a little soap, the clothes that used to take several washes to get clean are clean after just one wash! Do you have any more at home? Give Auntie two more pieces!”
As soon as Wu Fangmei said this, a few other women next to her couldn’t help but agree. “That’s right. There are a lot of clothes in the winter. They’re thick and heavy after getting wet. It usually takes more than half an hour to wash them clean. My hands are frozen into ice cubes, and my back is sore and stiff. It’s like torture. This soap of yours is so good. It can even foam. You can wash the clothes clean in ten minutes!”
“The clothes washed with this soap also have a fragrance! It smells so good!”
Tangtang looked at the plant ash next to Yu Yahong’s hand. “Second Aunt, why aren’t you using the soap?”
Yu Yahong waved her hand. “Hah, I’m used to using plant ash. A wild boar can’t eat fine bran. This plant ash can also wash clothes clean. I want to save that soap for Wani to use at school when she starts. She probably can’t bear to buy soap to wash her clothes.”
Speaking of this, Yu Yahong was a little sad.
Wani was studying at the medical school. The school gave a monthly subsidy of twelve yuan, and her family sent her ten yuan a month. This money was basically enough to meet her monthly living needs. But if she wanted to buy some study materials and daily necessities in addition to her living expenses, she could only deduct it from her food expenses. Yu Yahong had asked Yu Juanfang and knew that the couple sent Tangtang and Juesheng thirty yuan each every month. In comparison, ten yuan was indeed a bit little. But there was nothing she could do. Their family was not like the third branch. Not only was the third brother a cadre himself, but Juesheng was in the army, Juexiao was in the coal mine, and even the third sister-in-law worked in the production team and was always on full duty.
Tangtang’s hands, which were washing clothes, paused. Various complex emotions welled up in her heart, and finally, they turned into a sigh.
The soap at the supply and marketing cooperative cost thirty cents a bar. The wheat at the grain station was fifteen cents a catty, and the corn was ten cents a catty. The money for one bar of soap could buy 2 catties of fine grain, or 3 catties of coarse grain if exchanged. And you also needed a soap coupon. For someone like Yu Juanfang, who had to find someone to exchange for it privately, the cost of one bar of soap was more than fifty cents. Ordinary families really couldn’t bear to spend this money.
Everyone had worked so hard, all year round, spending all their energy and effort in the fields. But in the end, they couldn’t even afford to use soap.
…
After breakfast, Wani covered her hair with a floral handkerchief, took a broom and a basin of water, and cleaned the whole house.
After Wani returned home, she still lived in the south room with her cousin, Manya.
Manya had never been interested in studying since she was a child. For her, studying was not as free as working in the mountains. Wani had dragged her to graduate from junior high, and after graduation, she had returned home to work. But the fourth aunt, Wu Fangmei, was not like her mother a few years ago, who was bent on finding her a good husband. This girl was carefree. Besides working, she spent the rest of her time thinking about how to make delicious food to satisfy her own appetite.
Wani’s family had a total of three older brothers: the eldest, Shuanfu; the second, Caogen; and the third, Huwa. In these few years, the eldest brother had gradually taken over his father’s position and had slowly become the backbone of this family.
The family’s situation was much better than a few years ago. At least there was enough grain to eat. As for cash, they couldn’t take out an extra cent.
Besides Tangtang’s family, who had already built a new house and moved out, Wani’s family was still squeezed into the same courtyard with the eldest uncle’s family and the fourth uncle’s family. A few years ago, her parents had saved up enough money to buy bricks and had built a small bedroom on the empty space behind the west room, with a single bed and a bunk bed. Her three older brothers would be squeezed into that small room to sleep.
Brother Shuanfu was already twenty-eight this year. The children of his peers were basically all able to go to primary school, but he still didn’t even have a wife in sight.
Just as she was soaking the dirty rag in the basin of water, she heard Shuanfu’s voice at the door. “Wani, give me a hand!”
Hearing this, Wani quickly pushed open the closed door. Shuanfu came in with two cages.
Seeing the things in the cages, Wani’s eyes couldn’t help but light up with surprise. “Chicks? And ducklings?”
In the cage on the left were a dozen or so chicks. Their soft fluff was like the first batch of chives in spring, a tender yellow with a hint of timid white. They were looking around with their pea-sized black eyes, pecking at the bamboo strips on the cage wall with a rustle, looking very cute.
In the cage on the right were seven or eight ducklings. The ducklings were squeezed together, their gray fluff stained with bits of grass, like a handful of black sesame seeds scattered in the snow. A bold duckling was pecking at Shuanfu’s trouser leg with its small, flat beak.
Wani used a foxtail grass to tease the chicks. “Brother, where did these come from?”
Shuanfu wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was wearing a thick cotton coat today, which had made him sweat. “I had someone buy them at the farmers’ market. I plan to raise them in the future and sell them when they lay eggs.”
Wani hesitated for a moment. “With more than twenty of them, will we be allowed to raise them?”
The production brigade had a rule that families could raise chickens and ducks, but each household could not raise more than ten.
“Don’t worry. Now that the land has been divided among the households, who cares so much?”
Wani looked around the small, dilapidated courtyard of the old Su family’s house. All sorts of miscellaneous things were piled in every corner. “But the three of our families share one courtyard. I’m afraid that if we raise too many, Eldest Aunt and Fourth Aunt will have objections.”
Wani’s words were not without reason. Shuanfu considered it for a moment. “Then when these chicks and ducklings grow a little bigger, I’ll build a shed on the mountain land allocated to our family and raise them in the mountains. I’ll enclose it with a fence. Your second brother, third brother, and I will take turns guarding it, so we don’t have to worry about them being snatched by weasels or someone trying to do something bad.”
Wani thought this was a good idea. A smile appeared on her face. “Then I’ll go and find some soft dry grass to make a nest for the chicks and ducklings. At night, we can take the chicks and ducklings, along with the cages, into the house. The house is warm with the kang fire, so we don’t have to worry about them freezing to death.”
“Alright.”
…
In the third branch of the Su family, the vegetable patch was bare in the winter. Yu Juanfang was squatting by the well, cutting cured meat. She planned to make a dry pot of potatoes and cured meat for dinner. Tangtang and her brother were going back to school in a few days, and she wanted to make them some more good food during the winter vacation.
Tangtang’s clear voice sounded at the door. “Mom, look who’s here!”
Yu Juanfang looked up and saw Zhou Shunian in a black trench coat, his neat short hair just covering his eyebrows. He was carrying a lot of gifts in both hands and smiled politely. “Auntie.”
“Little Zhou?!” Yu Juanfang was both surprised and happy. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and welcomed him into the house.
“I came back to the county town to visit my grandfather. I thought I should come and visit you and Uncle Su.” A smile appeared on Zhou Shunian’s face, his voice as clear as the snow.
“That’s right. It’s good that you’re back. If you come back to Yuanlin in the future, just come to Uncle and Auntie’s house. Auntie will make you something delicious!” Yu Juanfang’s eyes were moist with gratification. She quickly brushed the snow from Zhou Shunian’s body. “It’s so cold. You didn’t even send a letter in advance. I could have had Tangtang and Juesheng pick you up.”
“Uncle Su.”
Su Huimin immediately responded with a cheerful smile. “Hey! Come in, come in!”
The main hall of the Su family’s house was warm. As soon as he entered, the snowflakes on Zhou Shunian’s body melted. Yu Juanfang had Tangtang go and make a pot of hot tea, then took out some meat coupons and money from a drawer and stuffed them into Su Juesheng’s hand. “Juesheng, go to the commune’s meat shop and see what kind of meat they have. Buy whatever they have! Then go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some pastries and snacks!”
“I know!” Su Juesheng took the money and rode his bicycle out.
This time, Zhou Shunian had prepared a lot of gifts for the Su family. “Uncle, this is the Tieguanyin tea I bought for you. Auntie, this is the locust flower honey I bought for you. And this piece of navy blue polyester fabric with a dark pattern can be used to make a bedsheet or two new sets of clothes. This is a can of four-treasure soup, with winter bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, and chicken pieces inside. A gift box of Harbin red sausage, malted milk extract… and some pastries I bought in Xiangyang City, with date paste, red bean paste, sesame, and nuts. They got a little broken on the road, but it shouldn’t affect the taste much.”
The gifts that Zhou Shunian had brought were spread out on a table.
Su Huimin and Yu Juanfang were dumbfounded. After a long while, Yu Juanfang swallowed her saliva. “Little Zhou, we’re already very happy that you could come and visit Uncle and Auntie. Look at you, you’ve brought so many things. This is too much, and it’s also too valuable! And the watches you gave to Juesheng and Tangtang…”
Tea, honey, fabric, canned food, red sausage, malted milk extract, pastries… this was even more exaggerated than a son-in-law visiting.
“Uncle, Auntie, I’ve known Juesheng for more than ten years. I received a lot of care at your house back then. This is just a small token of my appreciation.”
“Since it’s the child’s kind intention, then we’ll accept it,” Su Huimin said.
“Alright then. Then your Uncle Su and I will accept it. But you have to stay at our house for a few more days. Auntie will make you something delicious!”
“Alright, I’m still craving your braised pork ribs, Auntie.”
Hearing this, Yu Juanfang’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Tonight, Auntie will show you my skills!”
Hearing this commotion in the kitchen, Tangtang couldn’t help but cover her face with her hand. She hadn’t expected Zhou Shunian to be so grand.
“Tangtang, is the tea ready?”
“Hey, it’s almost ready!” Seeing that the water on the stove was boiling, Tangtang quickly responded.
Seeing that the tea had not been served for a long time, Su Huimin couldn’t help but mutter, “Why is that girl Tangtang taking so long? I’ll go and see.”
“Auntie, I’ll go.” After saying that, Zhou Shunian bent down and walked out of the room.
The Su family’s kitchen was spacious and bright. Seeing that the water was boiling, Tangtang took out the jasmine tea she had bought before the New Year from the cupboard. Just as she opened the tea caddy, she saw Zhou Shunian walk in.
The two of them hadn’t seen each other for more than half a month. The longing in their hearts was like a vine wrapped around a tree, growing wildly.
After a long while, Zhou Shunian quietly held her hand.
“This is too exaggerated,” she said in a low voice.
“I just wanted to leave a good impression on your parents, so that they would be willing to marry their daughter to me in the future.”
Tangtang’s face turned red, and she muttered in a low voice, “Who said I was going to marry you?”
Zhou Shunian coughed twice. “You didn’t say it, but can’t I have a dream?”
“Has your village already implemented the household responsibility system?”
“Yes, the policy promoted by Uncle Zhou. The land was divided before the New Year. Before the New Year was even over, some people were already eagerly taking their farm tools to plow the fields. After the household responsibility system was implemented, each family would plant their own land. There was no need to clock in and record work points in the production team. My mom said that when the work in the fields is not busy, she’ll set up a small stall and go to the side of the commune’s road to sell braised meat and tea rice. My cousin Shuanfu has also started to raise chickens and ducks to earn money.”
“Brother Shunian, I have something else to tell you.”
“Mhm?” Zhou Shunian’s voice sounded a little low, with a clear and cold feeling after the snow.
“Do you still remember I told you that I had applied for the chemistry major because my chemistry grades were the best?” Tangtang said.
Zhou Shunian nodded. “I remember. It was the day after Juesheng came to the capital.”
“Do you know how much a bar of soap costs?”
Her words were a bit out of the blue, but he seriously recalled the price of soap. “I think it’s thirty or forty cents.”
“Even at such an expensive price, it’s still difficult to buy soap without a soap coupon. In our Yuhuai Village, many people can’t afford to use soap. There are many aunts who have never used soap. The most common things for washing clothes are soap beans and plant ash. You have to rub them repeatedly to remove the stains from the clothes. It’s a real pain to wash clothes in the winter… Our country’s light industry is too backward. Only when the light industry catches up will people’s lives be improved. Our first year was only divided into the general category of the chemistry department. The second year will be subdivided into majors. I want to choose a major related to daily chemicals then.”
When Tangtang talked about her major, her face was beaming with a radiant glow.
Zhou Shunian looked at the talking Tangtang. It took him a long time to come back to his senses. A smile appeared on his face, and he encouraged her, “Very good. I support you.”